Interference lithography is a technique that can be used to make periodic nanostructures using the interference of two coherent light beams. One particular type of tool that can be used in such applications is based on the Lloyd's mirror configuration. In such tools, a laser is directed toward a substrate on which one wishes to produce a pattern of light. A first portion of the laser light is incident directly on the substrate while a second portion is reflected by a mirror before reaching the substrate. The first and second portions then interfere with each other to create a series of high intensity and low intensity light bands. Such tools could be useful in producing periodic nanostructures such as, for example, photonic crystals, diffraction gratings, magnetic domains in recording media, and micro- and nanofluidic channels, among others. However, such systems generally require time-consuming and complicated alignment. In addition, such tools can be relatively large in size and expensive. These limitations, among others, have prevented their ubiquitous use.